Solar energy and desalination offer new opportunities for agriculture in the Egyptian desert
How can agriculture be made possible in a region where water is scarce? In Nuweiba, on the coast of the Sinai Desert, farmers, experts and policymakers are investigating how solar energy and desalination can contribute to a reliable water supply for irrigation.
With the commissioning of a demonstration project at the Habiba Regenerative Farm, Nuweiba reached an important milestone. The installation demonstrates how solar energy can be used to desalinate brackish groundwater – water with a salinity higher than that of fresh water but lower than that of seawater – thereby making irrigation water available for agriculture in a water-scarce environment.
Within the FICAP project Regenerating Deserts, partner organisations ORG and 3E, the Egyptian government, local farming communities and experts are working together on further upscaling. In preparation, they developed a master plan for the region. This plan set out and evaluated various technical configurations, investment models and forms of collaboration.
“The climate crisis is not only environmental, it is also a social crisis. Local communities, especially in arid regions like Egypt, face growing challenges due to water scarcity, extreme heat, and unpredictable rainfall threatening their agricultural production, food security and overall livelihood whilst fuel prices are skyrocketing.”
Four scenarios for further roll-out
To determine which approach best suits the local context, the partners explored four possible scenarios. These ranged from individual systems per farm to a single centralised installation serving all farmers in Nuweiba.
During workshops, the pros and cons of each scenario were discussed at length. These discussions covered not only technical aspects but also issues such as investment costs, ownership structures and practical feasibility for the local community.
Based on these discussions, two preferred options were selected and presented to the mayor of Nuweiba, the governor and deputy governor of South Sinai, and representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation. Both options are based on shared infrastructure across multiple farms, but differ in scale and organisation.
Technical choices for a sustainable water supply
The proposed systems combine solar panels with the desalination of brackish groundwater. As no battery storage is provided, the solar energy is mainly used during the day, whilst the electricity grid covers the remaining energy requirements.
According to the experts, it is often more advantageous to install more solar panels than are currently needed than to invest in expensive batteries. This allows the desalination plant to operate at maximum capacity when plenty of solar energy is available, whilst leaving scope for future expansion.
The treatment of the saline effluent produced during desalination also remains a key area of focus. Possible solutions include salt recovery, the cultivation of salt-tolerant crops and applications in aquaculture, but further research is needed.
In addition, further research is needed into how the available groundwater reserves can be utilised in a sustainable manner. Based on current analyses, medium-sized agricultural clusters appear to be the most robust solution, as they offer sufficient economies of scale to limit investment costs, whilst keeping water demand and pressure on available groundwater reserves manageable. Furthermore, using multiple wells helps to avoid placing an excessive burden on any single source.
Although local communities also expressed an interest in producing drinking water through desalination, this proved to be less economically viable within the current framework. The focus is therefore, for the time being, on the production of irrigation water.
Next steps
This autumn, a new 100 kWp demonstration plant will be built in Moghra, in Egypt’s Western Desert.
Meanwhile, in Nuweiba, local communities are continuing to work on organisational and financing models for the further roll-out of the selected scenarios. At the same time, the project team is refining the technical designs and carrying out additional research into, amongst other things, battery storage, groundwater management and the treatment of brine.
The project partners are exploring the possibilities for further upscaling. Work is also continuing on a computer model to optimise future investments and system configurations using local data on water, energy and agricultural production.
With the master plan, a concrete roadmap is now in place for the first time for the further upscaling of solar energy and desalination in Nuweiba’s agricultural sector